The Light At The End
by Katherine Del Rey
Summary: Why does Stefan beat Elena? Why does her hurt her in ways she could never imagine? He was the bad brother. Then there was Damon. He was always there to help Elena after Stefan beats her. What happens when she's in love with the wrong brother? Find out in "A Light At The End!"
1. Chapter 1

Elena: "No, Stefan please don't!"

Thwack! Stefan Salvatore hit Elena Gilbert's face. That wasn't the first time either. He had been abusing her for years. She was a human, so weak and defenseless and he was a strong vampire. Why wouldn't he just stop? She was crying, but then again there wasn't a day that went by where Elena wasn't crying. She cried when Stefan killed Jeremy, but Elena had to testify that it was self-defense on Stefan's part. She betrayed her dead brother.

Stefan: "Shut up."

Elena couldn't even see out of her left eye, he had beaten her to the point it was blurry. She hoped that by tomorrow she would have clear vision. She actually really hoped that she wasn't going to wake up tomorrow morning. No one even lived with her. Jeremy was the one thing she had left and now there was nothing left for her to live for. Well, maybe there was one thing, one person. Damon Salvatore, Stefan's brother. He was nothing like Stefan though except they were both vampires. Damon was loving and caring and whenever Stefan hit her to the point she couldn't move Damon was always there to pick her up, carry her home, and nurse her back to health.

Elena: "Stefan please I didn't mean to-"

Stefan: "Didn't I tell you already, shut the hell up."

Stefan hit her again. She didn't mean to mess up. She didn't mean it. Elena just wanted to do something nice for him. She wrote his essay from him, and only got a B-. He need a B+ to pass. Now because of her, Stefan was going to summer school, even though she knew he would never show up.

Stefan hit her one more time before kicking her in the stomach and leaving her in her own house, not able to get up. When he was about to leave he turned back to her and spit on her. Elena wiped the spit off her face. She could barely move to get her cell phone out of her pocket. She held down the "1" on her phone and it dialed "Damon Salvatore."

Damon: "Hello?"

Elena's voice was weak and she could barely utter a word out: "Damon, help its-"

Damon: "Elena, I'm on my way."

With that they both hung up and before she knew it Damon was running up the stairs. He stood at the door, this one was worse than the other times. It seemed like each time Stefan was beating Elena there was more and more blood.

Damon: "Oh my god."

He rushed to Elena's side, her eyes were closed and she looked like she was dead. Damon moved her from lying on her side onto her back. There came a small rise and fall from her chest so he could see she was still breathing. He checked her pulse; it was there but it was faint. Damon never used vampire blood to cure her and he wasn't about to now. He grabbed pillows from her bed to elevate her head and went into the bathroom to get towels and came back to help Elena.

Elena: "Damon…thank….you"

Damon: "Sh, don't talk…not now. I just need you to stay with me. Okay?"

Elena nodded her head and Damon carried on to try to help her.


	2. Chapter 2

Damon was giving Elena water and patching up her wounds. Her face was bruised and bleeding. There were lacerations on her cheek and she had a black eye. Elena made a small motion to her stomach. He lifted up her shirt, hoping she wouldn't think he was making a move and saw a large bruise forming around her ribs. He got an icepack from downstairs and came back up. He wrapped it in a towel then wrapped it around Elena. How could Stefan do this to the woman he loved? After almost an hour of just sitting on the floor next to Elena waiting for her to gain her energy to be able to just speak.

Elena whispered so quietly Damon could barely hear her: "Damon? Could you move me onto my bed?"

Damon: "Oh yeah, sure, of course. Sorry I didn't do it earlier."

Elena: "No its fine…"

Damon carefully scooped Elena into his arms. She was so light, so gentle, and so fragile. When he laid her carefully on her bed she let out a small sigh of relief. Damon sat there for about three more hours. Not moving from Elena's side except to get her more water. The fifth hour of just sitting came around of just sitting, watching Elena sleep. He didn't mind just sitting here in silence with her, even if she was pretty much unconscious. She let out another small sigh.

Damon: "Elena, is there anything else you need?"

Elena opened her eyes wide open: "Wait are you leaving?"

Damon: "No, no, of course not. I would never leave you like this."

Elena: "He will be back soon. You will need to put me back on the floor and remove all the Band-Aids. He cant figure out that you help me. You know that."

Damon: "I know the drill. When do you think he will be back?"

Elena: "What time is it?"

Damon: "6 at night."

Elena: "And what time did you get here?"

Damon: "Noon."

Elena: "He will be anytime now actually. You should probably put me back on the floor."

Damon: "Okay I will take off the band aids first then at the last possible second I will put you on the floor, okay?"

Elena: "Okay, but hurry."

Damon began to remove all the Band-Aids and took the ice pack off her ribs. He waited a few more minutes then he heard someone open the front door. He quickly got Elena and rested her back on the floor on on her side. He climbed out the window and left as soon as possible. Stefan walked slowly up the stairs and got up to Elena's room. He ran over to her, it looked as if she hadn't moved at all. He checked her pulse, it was strong. He let out a sigh of relief. Elena didn't move, she held her breath hoping he only came to make sure she wasn't dead and that he would leave. Stefan gently picked her up and sat down on her bed and put her head on his chest.

Stefan began to cry: "I'm sorry, I really am. I'm trying to change."

Elena didn't answer, but she almost cried herself. He loved her, in a very weird crazy way, but he still loved her. But she didn't love him. Elena loved Damon.


	3. Chapter 3

Stefan took Elena off his chest and held her face equal to his: "I am sorry. Do you hear me?"

Elena: "Yes and I know you are."

Stefan kissed her forehead and laid her back on her bed: "I'll be back tomorrow. Would you like to go out tomorrow?"

Elena: "Yeah of course."

Stefan walked out the door and Elena got up from her bed to go look in the mirror. Her eye was swelling up and her lip was cut and she had multiple bruises. How could she go out in public looking like this? Maybe that's what she needed. She needs to be seen, seen by someone other than Stefan or Damon.

She heard someone knock at the door, and she knew that Damon would never knock; he would just come right in.

She went to her bedroom door and yelled: "One minute!"

No one said anything back; she didn't really think that they would.

She went to her front door and all of the sudden she saw her dead brother, Jeremy. What the hell was going on? Was someone playing some joke on her? Was this just a dream?

Elena: "Jeremy…what…what's going on? You're…dead…"

Jeremy: "No, I'm not…"

Elena: "Stop it."

Jeremy: "I love you Elena."

Elena was coming to her senses when she found out that this was all a dream. It was Damon standing over her saying "I love you Elena."

She jumped up a little startled: "Damon…you scared me…"

Damon: "Your eyes were fluttering like crazy, what were you dreaming about?"

Elena: "I was….nothing…no one."

Damon: "It's the Jeremy's dreams again, aren't they?"

Elena: "Yeah…I haven't had them in a couple of months. I guess I just miss him again."

Damon: "I can understand that. You know you can't go out in public with Stefan right? Not even a makeup artist can cover those marks up."

Elena: "You cant tell me what I can and cannot do."

Damon: "Fine go out and attract attention to yourself. Stefan will become angry and then he will compel the whole world to just ignore the marks that are on Elena Gilbert."

Elena: "So what? Then maybe we can live a normal life?"

Damon: "Normal? Seriously?! Nothing about this life that you two are living is normal. You should get butterflies in your stomach because you love that person, not because you are afraid of them."

Elena: "You're the reason I get the good butterflies, I love you, Damon."


End file.
